Entertainment Desk: ‘Shanghai’, the political thriller is a film about four individuals, a young activist, a girl on the street, a porn filmmaker and a high-ranking bureaucrat who gathered up in a game of crime and political maneuver.

 

Story of the film is not new in Bollywood and has been presented in Hindi films several times, but in lieu of presentation ‘Shanghai’ is a well presented movie to keep audience involved.

 

Originally the film is an adaption of the Vasilis Vasilikos’s novel ‘Z’ which was even made into a French film by the same name in 1969, but it has been presented here with a local Indian essence.

 

Plot of ‘Shanghai’ revolves around the assassination of a political activist cum socialist Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee), who is opposing an impending ruling political party backed infrastructure project in Bharat Nagar.

 

At a rally, Ahmedi is crushed by a speeding van. While the police palm off the case as an accident, one of Ahmedi’s followers Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) knows it was a planned murder.

 

A Porn filmmaker (Emraan Hashmi) claims to have the evidence that will bring the government down. A high-ranking bureaucrat (Abhay Deol) has been appointed to investigate the case.

 

The random cuts and tight close-ups disturb at times until you get accustomed to them but the wild and untamed street dance of Emraan Hashmi is greatly entertaining.

 

Coming to acting, every character has tried their best. Abhay Deol, portraying a South Indian IAS officer, makes a mark for his role in the film. Emraan Hashmi has changed his serial kisser image here. Akin to his earlier films ‘Jannat 2’ and ‘TDP’, Hashmi has again been acclaimed for his acting in ‘Sanghai’.

 

In nutshell, Shanghai is a serious film that tells about evil politics and the realism of society. It is not at all a ‘masala’ film rather it can be tagged as a mind-opener film.

Director: Dibakar Banerjee

Starring: Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol, Kali Koechlin, Prasenjit Chatterjee, Supriya Pathak, Farooq Shaikh & Pitobash

Music: Vishal-Shekhar

Our rating: *** stars out of five.

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